Learn how to use the French verb that means "to say"
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| Introduction |
| Virginie: Bonjour tout le monde! |
| Eric: Hello, Eric here. Pick Up Lines That Don't Work, And Ones That Do! |
| Virginie: Hi everyone, it’s Virginie. I am here with Eric. Hi, Eric. |
| Eric: Hey, how are you? |
| Virginie: I am good, how are you? |
| Eric: Great. |
| Virginie: So Eric, what are we going to see today? |
| Eric: Well, we are looking at the adverbs concerning frequency. |
| Virginie: Oh yes, I see always, never, these kind of things. In this dialogue, Joe is still with Frank and the manager and they are talking about seduction in French. |
| Eric: Ah! I see! |
| Virginie: Yes, and it’s going to be interesting. Let’s have a listen. |
| Dialogue |
| Joe : Encore merci. Vous faites ça souvent ? |
| Franck : En général, une fois par mois. Eh ! Qu'est-ce que c'est ? |
| Joe : Ça ? C'est juste un livre. |
| Franck : "Leçons de séductions à la française". Passe ! |
| Joe : Tiens. |
| Directrice : "Vous avez du feu, Mademoiselle ?" (rires). Joe, vilain garçon ! |
| Joe : Non ... |
| Franck : (rires) Je plaisante. "Vous êtes charmante." (rires) |
| Directrice : Ça ne va jamais marcher. |
| Joe : Qu'est-ce que vous dites alors ? |
| Franck : Parfois, je dis "Ça vous a fait mal quand vous êtes tombée du ciel?". Pas "Vous êtes charmante." |
| Directrice : Moi les hommes me disent toujours, "Tu as un plan ? Je me suis perdu dans tes yeux." |
| Joe : Ça marche, ça ? |
| Franck : Ça marche toujours ! |
| Eric: One more time, a little more slowly. |
| Virginie: Encore une fois, plus lentement. |
| Joe : Encore merci. Vous faites ça souvent ? |
| Franck : En général, une fois par mois. Eh ! Qu'est-ce que c'est ? |
| Joe : Ça ? C'est juste un livre. |
| Franck : "Leçons de séductions à la française". Passe ! |
| Joe : Tiens. |
| Directrice : "Vous avez du feu, Mademoiselle ?" (rires). Joe, vilain garçon ! |
| Joe : Non ... |
| Franck : (rires) Je plaisante. "Vous êtes charmante." (rires) |
| Directrice : Ça ne va jamais marcher. |
| Joe : Qu'est-ce que vous dites alors ? |
| Franck : Parfois, je dis "Ça vous a fait mal quand vous êtes tombée du ciel?". Pas "Vous êtes charmante." |
| Directrice : Moi les hommes me disent toujours, "Tu as un plan ? Je me suis perdu dans tes yeux." |
| Joe : Ça marche, ça ? |
| Franck : Ça marche toujours ! |
| Eric: One more time, with the translation. |
| Virginie: Encore une fois, avec la traduction. |
| Joe : Encore merci. Vous faites ça souvent ? |
| Eric: Thank you again! Do you do this often? |
| Franck : En général, une fois par mois. Eh ! Qu'est-ce que c'est ? |
| Eric: In general, once a month. Hey, what's this? |
| Joe : Ça ? C'est juste un livre. |
| Eric: This? Oh, it's just a book. |
| Franck : "Leçons de séductions à la française". Passe ! |
| Eric: "Seduction Lessons-The French Way." Pass it over! |
| Joe : Tiens. |
| Eric: Here you go. |
| Directrice : "Vous avez du feu, Mademoiselle ?" (rires). Joe, vilain garçon ! |
| Eric: "Do you have a light, Miss?" (laughing). Joe, naughty boy. |
| Joe : Non ... |
| Eric: No... |
| Franck : (rires) Je plaisante. "Vous êtes charmante." (rires) |
| Eric: Just kidding. "You are charming." (laughing) |
| Directrice : Ça ne va jamais marcher. |
| Eric: That will never work. |
| Joe : Qu'est-ce que vous dites alors ? |
| Eric: Then what do you say? |
| Franck : Parfois, je dis "Ça vous a fait mal quand vous êtes tombée du ciel?" Pas "Vous êtes charmante." |
| Eric: I sometimes say, "Did it hurt when you fell out of the sky?" Not "You are charming." |
| Directrice : Moi les hommes me disent toujours, "Tu as un plan ? Je me suis perdu dans tes yeux." |
| Eric: Men always tell me, "Do you have a map? I got lost in your eyes." |
| Joe : Ça marche, ça ? |
| Eric: That works? |
| Franck : Ça marche toujours ! |
| Eric: It always works! |
| Post Conversation Banter |
| Virginie: There are some good pickup lines, right? |
| Eric: Are there really? I don’t know. |
| Virginie: Yeah I guess. I don’t know. They don’t really work on me though, but… |
| Eric: Aha! |
| Virginie: Aha! |
| Eric: Tu es difficile. You are difficult. |
| Virginie: I am difficult. Do you want to hear a couple? |
| Eric: Sure. |
| Virginie: Let’s start with – No, actually let’s start with one from our dialogue. It’s "Ça vous a fait mal quand vous êtes tombée du ciel?" |
| Eric: You didn’t get hurt when you fell from the sky. |
| Virginie: Oh yeah. |
| Eric: My angel. |
| Virginie: That’s beautiful, isn’t it? |
| Eric: Indeed. |
| Virginie: You never use pickup lines on girls, Eric? |
| Eric: You know, you have to really pick the most corny one you can. |
| Virginie: I know. |
| Eric: That’s the only one that will work. |
| Virginie: Nah…Okay. |
| Eric: Do we have anyone like that here? |
| Virginie: Uh… what do we have? We have this one, excusez-moi, est-ce que tu embrasses des étrangers? Non. Danc, je me présenter. |
| Eric: That’s very good. Okay, excuse me, do you kiss strangers? No? Well, let me introduce myself. |
| Virginie: Okay, yeah. |
| Eric: That might work. |
| Virginie: That might work, yeah. It can be charming, I guess. |
| Eric: Maybe. |
| Virginie: Let’s talk about something more serious, vocabulary. |
| Vocab List |
| Virginie: souvent [natural native speed] |
| Eric: often |
| Virginie: souvent [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: souvent [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: en général [natural native speed] |
| Eric: generally, usually |
| Virginie: en général [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: en général [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: par [natural native speed] |
| Eric: per (referring to frequency) |
| Virginie: par [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: par [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un mois [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a month |
| Virginie: un mois [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un mois [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: juste [natural native speed] |
| Eric: just |
| Virginie: juste [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: juste [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: livre [natural native speed] |
| Eric: book |
| Virginie: livre [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: livre [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: passer (quelque chose) [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to pass (something) over |
| Virginie: passer (quelque chose) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: passer (quelque chose) [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: la séduction [natural native speed] |
| Eric: seduction |
| Virginie: la séduction [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: la séduction [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: une leçon [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a lesson |
| Virginie: une leçon [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: une leçon [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: parfois [natural native speed] |
| Eric: sometimes |
| Virginie: parfois [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: parfois [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: à la française [natural native speed] |
| Eric: the French way |
| Virginie: à la française [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: à la française [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: toujours [natural native speed] |
| Eric: always, anyway, still |
| Virginie: toujours [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: toujours [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: marcher [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to work, to walk |
| Virginie: marcher [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: marcher [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: vilain(e) [natural native speed] |
| Eric: naughty |
| Virginie: vilain(e) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: vilain(e) [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un garçon [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a boy |
| Virginie: un garçon [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un garçon [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: tomber [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to fall |
| Virginie: tomber [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: tomber [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: le ciel [natural native speed] |
| Eric: sky |
| Virginie: le ciel [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: le ciel [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: quand [natural native speed] |
| Eric: when |
| Virginie: quand [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: quand [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: charmant(e) [natural native speed] |
| Eric: charming |
| Virginie: charmant(e) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: charmant(e) [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un plan [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a map |
| Virginie: un plan [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un plan [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: se perdre [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to get lost |
| Virginie: se perdre [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: se perdre [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un oeil / des yeux [natural native speed] |
| Eric: an eye/eyes |
| Virginie: un oeil / des yeux [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un oeil / des yeux [natural native speed] |
| Vocab and Phrase Usage |
| Eric: Woo! That's a lot of vocab. |
| Virginie: Yes we need to pick some essential words here. |
| Eric: How about "une fois par mois" |
| Virginie: Yes that's a good one. Une fois par mois is once a moth. |
| Eric: Literally it is one time per month |
| Virginie: Yes, une fois is one time |
| Eric: Par is per, that’s easy |
| Virginie: And then mois is month. |
| Eric: Sounds exactly like moi, me. |
| Virginie: Yes, same pronunciation but different spelling though. Ends with an s. |
| Eric: So how do i say "twice a mont? |
| Virginie: same structure, deux fois par mois. We already know that deux is two |
| Eric: Two times a month then, |
| Virginie: Then if you want to say once a week you 'll say |
| Eric:Une fois par semaine |
| Virginie: Exactly. |
| Eric: Semaine is week in french. |
| Virginie: If you want to say “I have french class twice a week” |
| Eric: twice a week? that's intense |
| Virginie: No its' not. Anyway. Twice a week will be, Eric? |
| Eric: Well twice is two times, so deux fois |
| Virginie: Oui |
| Eric: And then we have per, and that's par |
| Virginie: Go on |
| Eric: Finally we have week, and that's semaine |
| Virginie: Absolutely! |
| Eric: That's good to know. |
| Virginie: J'ai un cours de francais deux fois par seamine. I have a french class twice a week. |
| Eric: Let's do some grammar. now |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Virginie: The focus of this lesson is the adverb of frequency and the verb dire, to say. |
| Eric: So our friends are sharing some good pick up lines. |
| Virginie: Yes. Men still think that pick up lines work on women. |
| Eric: They don't? |
| Virginie: Well, it all depends on how you say them. |
| Eric: Ahah. Anyway. |
| Virginie: So to share their pick up lines, they say "parfois je dis" |
| Eric: "Sometimes I say" |
| Virginie: First let's look at "parfois" |
| Eric: that's the adverb "sometimes |
| Virginie: In our dialogue it is at the beginning of the sentence. |
| Eric: But you can also use it at the end of your sentence. |
| Virginie: for example if you want ot say "I sometimes go to the movies |
| Eric: You can say either |
| Virginie: Parfois je vais au cinema - beginning of the sentence |
| Eric: Or, je vais au cinema, parfois - end of the sentence |
| Virginie: And even "je vais parfois au cinema - middle of the sentence, right after the verb. |
| Eric: It's very mobile. |
| Virginie: it's a free word, it does what it likes |
| Eric: Ahah. |
| Virginie: Now what else do we have in the world of frequency? |
| Eric: We have the adverb "toujours" |
| Virginie: Yes the manager says "les mecs me disent toujours" |
| Eric: Men, or guys always tell me |
| Virginie: toujours is "always. |
| Eric: Je suis toujours en retard. |
| Virginie: I am always late. |
| Eric: tu es toujours sympa. |
| Virginie: You are always nice. |
| Eric: And that's true. |
| Virginie: Unlike "parfois", though, toujours is alway placed right after the conjugated verb. |
| Eric: So don't put it at the beginning of the sentence. |
| Virginie: And the opposite of toujours is "jamais" |
| Eric: Never, of course. |
| Virginie: Yes the manager say "ca ne va jamais marcher" it will never work. |
| Eric: She's talking about Joe's book's poor pick up lines. |
| Virginie: So jamais is a little different from toujours. |
| Eric: YEs. It is used with the negative particuel ne |
| Virginie: It sort of replaces "pas" not |
| Eric: Like in the sentence "je ne vais jamais au cinema" |
| Virginie: Your verb this time is squeezed between en and jamais (instead of pas) |
| Eric: the regular negative form would be "je ne vais pas au cinéma.” I don't go to the movies. |
| Virginie: And with jamais, again, it will be "je ne vais jamais au cinema.” |
| Eric: In our sentence, ca ne va and then jamais and then marcher. |
| Virginie: Now, Frank also says" en general" |
| Eric: oui en general means "in general", that's pretty clear too. |
| Virginie: Yes en is in and general is general obviously. |
| Eric: Isn't there a French song that goes "les histoire d'amour... |
| Virgniie: Oh yes it's "les histoires d'amour finissent mal, en general. |
| Eric: What's the name of the band?? |
| Virginie: Les Rita Mitsouko. It was a great band, I definitely recommend them. |
| Eric: Now let's see the verb dire, "to say" |
| Virginie: It's irregular. Je dis que Eric est avec moi dans le studio. |
| Eric: Eric just said "I say that Eric is with me in the studio.” |
| Virginie: And again, je dis, I say. |
| Eric: Eric, tu dis n'importe quoi |
| Virginie: What Eric just said is "Virginie, you're saying nonsense.” |
| Eric: And that's not true. What about Frank? What does he say? |
| Virginie: Frank, il dit, "ca marche toujours! It always works! |
| Eric: Right. |
| Virginie: so now you know, je dis, “I say”; tu dis, “you say”; and il or elle or on dit, “he says, she says, or we say.” |
Outro |
| Eric: Ok, great! Well, I think that’s enough for today. |
| Virginie: Thank you for listening. |
| Eric: À bientôt! |
| Virginie: À bientôt! Bye-bye! Au Revoir! |
Comments
HideBonjour Carlos et merci pour votre commentaire !
J'aime beaucoup aussi les Rita Mitsuko?
J'aime bien aussi Renaud, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Tryo...
Si jamais cela vous intéresse ?
Bonne semaine !
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
Thanks for the Rita Mitsouko tip. They have several videos with millions of views on Youtube. I liked "Marcia baila" and "Le petit train". Even though the videos and songs are about 30 years old, they don't feel dated. Very nice.
Hi Gal!
Thanks for the comment!:cool:
In fact, "les mecs" and "les hommes" have the same meaning, but "mecs" is familiar, like "guys".
We are using "mecs" when we are talking with friends or family.
So to sum up, if you are talking, you can use "mec", but if you are writing, or talking to someone that you should respect, it's better to use "homme".
Mailys
FrenchPod101.com
Hi, First, you have the best website to learn French! Thank you!
Now, In the lesson it is written: " Moi les mecs me disent toujours" but I think the manager is using the word "les hommes" and not "les mecs"... which I don't know what it means...
Thanks for everything!